Parking Lot
by DILestrudel
Summary: Unexpected cuddles are not unwelcome


It had been a long day of driving for Tim and Jay. Driving to places that they had previously filmed Marble Hornets in search of clues, to be specific. Anything at all to help them in their search for answers. So far, their efforts had yielded nothing. Daylight was fading fast now and that signaled an end to location scouting for Tim, who was behind the wheel. "Hey, Jay? Should we get a hotel or-" Tim stopped mid-sentence when realized that Jay was asleep in the passengers seat next to him, his head cocked to one side and bobbing along to the motion of the vehicle. "Yeah... Okay then. We'll just pull over. I didn't feel like checking into another hotel anyway." Tim said to himself, taking the next exit that pointed to a campground, free for public use. Pulling into its empty parking lot, Tim circled around to find a spot that would be well lit. Coming to a stop underneath a light post, Tim idled the car for a moment, looking around to see if he could find a reason to not trust the spot. Finding nothing, Tim shut off the car and put the keys in his pants pocket.

Beside him, Jay stirred, opening his eyes and looking around. "Wha- what?" he mumbled through a yawn. "We're parked here for the night." Tim said, taking a drink from his bottle of water which had been sitting in the consoles cupholder. Jay nodded stiffly, yawning again. After a few moments, Jay grabbed a water for himself from the backseat of the car and sipped it as he looked around. "Is it safe?" he asked quietly, turning to Tim. "Yeah, it seems like it. I mean, I checked it out a bit before I parked. This overhead light should let us see anyone coming near the car." Tim said. They both knew that they were vulnerable in the open, but chose not to acknowledge their fear aloud. "One of us will have to keep watch." said Tim, "And you're obviously tired, so I'll take the first watch." Jay protested this, making Tim agree to wake him up at midnight so that he could take over and let Tim rest.

Jay settled in to the passenger seat, making himself as comfortable as he could. "Midnight." he said firmly to Tim before closing his eyes. "Yeah." Tim said quietly, shifting his focus outside the vehicle. He had no real intentions of waking Jay up at midnight. It was dark now, the last traces of sunset barely visible through the trees. The overhead light had come on, illuminating a large portion of the parking lot in the twilight. Tim rolled his half empty water bottle in his palm for something to do, the sound of sloshing water mixing with the quiet sounds of Jay's deepening breaths. Tim carefully removed the keys from his pocket, starting the car and rolling his window down before turning it back off. Lighting a cigarette, Tim leaned out the open window, scanning the surrounding trees for movement. Knocking off the gathering ash, Tim stared groggily at it as it crumbled to the ground, suddenly aware of how tired he was. He hadn't really been sleeping lately, but that was to be expected. How could you sleep when you didn't know if you would wake up and still be you? Tim listened to the distant drone of the highway from beyond the trees, mixed with the sounds of various insects. Normal nighttime sounds. Nothing to be concerned about. Stifling a cough for Jay's sake, Tim put out his cigarette in the car's ashtray and started it once again to roll his window back up, shutting out the sounds from outside.

Tim listened to the sounds of Jay's breathing. It had slowed down completely now, signifying Jay's unconsciousness. Watching the steady rise and fall of his chest, Tim realized that his own breath was syncing with Jay's. His eyes drooped, more than willing to go to sleep. Tim shook his head, refusing to give in to the temptation to sleep. He resumed his watch, leaning to the left in order to prop his elbow up on the padded storage container between the seats that he so often used as an armrest. Outside, all was still quiet. A bat dove down in front of the car to catch a bug. Moths fluttered across the windshield, casting tiny shadows on Tim's chest. Beside him, Jay shifted, trying to find a more comfortable position. Tim listened to his efforts, focused instead on a tree just outside the circle of light the overhead provided that may or may not have moved. It took a moment for Tim to register the warm head trying to find purchase on his shoulder. Jay had fallen to his left and was now adjusting his head in order to find a comfortable position on Tim's shoulder. Jay's hair brushed Tim's ear and Tim could feel the warmth of Jay's neck on his upper arm, his pulse beating steadily. Tim moved his head as much as he could to look at Jay, sighing slightly at how childish this was. Jay did look younger in his sleep, Tim thought, the lines of concern and stress that accompanied his waking self were missing and replaced with a soft, rounded look in the light the lamp outside provided. Tim looked around once more outside, checking to see if all was safe before returning his attention to Jay. He was tempted to move, let Jay move back over to his seat and forget this happened. But then Jay sighed in his sleep, sounding content, and Tim couldn't bring himself to wake him up. Not when this was probably the first time all week he had actually seen Jay in a contented sleep that didn't seem plagued with nightmares. Tim stayed in that position for another hour or so, keeping watch while Jay slept before his neck was grew stiff, and with Jay on his shoulder, it was difficult to move it much to relieve the ache. His only comfortable option was his right. Gently, Tim rested his head on top of Jay's. Tim noted that Jay's hair smelled like hotel shampoo and sweat. He was pleasantly warm and everything was safe outside and Tim was comfortable.

Tim didn't even notice that he had fallen asleep until he opened his eyes again to find that it was morning. Eight o'clock, maybe. Tim jumped a little when the pillow beneath his head moved, and it took him a moment to realize that his pillow was infact Jay's head. Jay pulled away from Tim, edging back into his seat and rubbing his eyes. "Were we..?" he began, his voice scratchy with sleep. Tim felt heat in his cheeks as he nodded, looking out the window next to Jay's head. "You didn't wake me up at midnight..." Jay said, frowning. "Well obviously I fell asleep." Tim responded, suddenly embarrassed. He had left them both vulnerable for hours. "Sorry." he said quietly, focusing intently on unscrewing the cap to his water. "It's fine." Jay said, getting out of the car and walking to the back door. Tim unlocked it for him, and Jay grabbed a camera from the backseat. "Has that been filming...all night?" Tim asked. Jay nodded, pressing buttons and rewinding through the tapes. Tim watched his face as a slight colour mounted on his cheeks and ears. Jay cleared his throat. "Sorry..." he said. Tim smiled at that. "It's fine, really. I don't mind." Jay nodded awkwardly, not expecting that particular response from Tim. "Do you want coffee? I want coffee. Let's go get coffee." Tim said, fishing keys out of his pocket and starting the car. Jay closed the back door and returned to the passenger seat, "Yeah, coffee sounds nice." he responded, turning the camera off. "Good." said Tim, noting the pink tinge lingering on Jay's ears as he pulled out of the campground.


End file.
